site.btaSocialists Issue Declaration against Stationing Foreign Armed Forces in Bulgaria and for Lifting Sanctions against Russia

Socialists Issue Declaration
against Stationing Foreign Armed Forces in Bulgaria
and for Lifting Sanctions against Russia


Sofia, February 10 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP)
Executive Bureau issued a declaration against the stationing of
foreign armed forces and equipment in Bulgaria and for
suspending the sanctions against Russia, the socialists' press
centre said on Tuesday.

BSP declares itself against Bulgaria's involvement in the
organization of military action against Russia and against the
stationing of heavy weaponry on Bulgarian territory. The party
will insist that the Bulgarian Government upholds a position in
favour of suspending the sanctions against Russia.

BSP is very concerned about the escalation of the military
conflict in Ukraine, the party said, expressing serious concern
over the fact that for months now thousands of peaceful citizens
have become victims of the armed conflict, including women and
children. Significant territories in that country have been
devastated, while hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee
their homes. Unfortunately the international community still
fails to find the necessary ways for resolving the conflict
efficiently and peacefully, the declaration says.

BSP underscored its position that the war in Ukraine can be
prevented only through negotiations. The attempts to resolve the
conflict with arms and by force will lead to even more
casualties, to a fatal expansion of the military action and to a
new division of Europe. The socialists voice the disagreement
of the Bulgarian citizens for their country to become a
territory where foreign troops and equipment are stationed for
potential military action. According to BSP, Europe can and must
build its security together with Russia and not against it.

The existing sanctions obviously are not an effective way for
settling the conflict, but rather cause harm to European
countries, including Bulgaria, BSP said, adding that this is the
reason the party favours their suspension.

"With extreme concern we are following the information about a
growing military mobilization among the ethnic Bulgarians in
Ukraine, which drags them into a fratricidal conflict on both
sides of the front lines," BSP's declaration reads. According to
the socialists, it is Bulgarians' national duty, in the name of
peace and democracy, to help the suffering Ukrainian
population, which is the reason the party has initiated the
provision of humanitarian aid. "We believe that the most
important thing right now is to help and express solidarity not
only with the Bulgarians in Ukraine, but with all who are
affected by the conflict," the declaration reads. PK/MY



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